The Set for Success community school supply event extraordinaire at the Boothbay Region YMCA drew a huge crowd on Sunday afternoon, including Gov. Paul and first lady Ann LePage.

By 2 p.m., well over 300 hundred children and their families had entered the YMCA field house and were happily mingling, perusing all the back-to-school supplies and visiting the many community booths.

Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Edgecomb school administrators greeted students and families as they entered the door. From there students could choose backpacks, haircuts and manicures, or go straight to jam-packed school supply tables, where everything they need to start the school year was ready for them.

Event coordinator Sue Burge and Superintendent of Schools Eileen King said school supplies will be provided to every student whether they were able to attend Sunday’s event or not.

“No one will be left out,” King said. “Every kid will have a full backpack with their supplies when they start school.” King said a smaller version of the Set for Success program will be held next week in Georgetown.

“We want every kid to have a backpack with everything they need. So when they go back to school everyone has the same thing and they’re all on a level playing field,” Burge said.

Rep. Stephanie Hawke escorted the governor and first lady around the field house. The LePages spent a little over an hour touring all the booths, meeting students and families and posing again and again for photos. Hawke said she wanted the LePages to see first hand the kind of community they will one day join.

“I wanted them to see what this town does for every kid in the school. It’s amazing,” Hawke said.

First lady Ann LePage, who is well-known for her charitable works, said she was impressed and inspired by the event.

“I think this is phenomenal. It would be wonderful to see this go statewide. It puts the kids on a level playing field,” she said.

Both the governor and first lady said they were happy to be in Boothbay and looking forward to moving here and joining the community. “So that the newspapers can’t chase me,” Gov. LePage joked.

Addressing the crowd, the governor and Mrs. LePage thanked the volunteers and school employees for all their efforts.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” LePage said in his brief remarks. “The most important thing we are here for is for our children. I can’t say enough to all the parents, the volunteers, the teachers and all those that really care for the next generation.”

As the LePages departed, families continued to stream into the field house. Not surprisingly, some lines were long, but almost no one appeared troubled by them. Well, almost no one.

Burge said she was delighted with the turnout, the tremendous outpouring of generosity, and the special visitors from the Blaine House. But she was worried about those lines.

Pointing to the happy faces in line Burge said,  “Look at them; they are so good. They have to wait in line, but we’re more frustrated by the lines than they are.”

As the families and volunteers swirled around her, Burge already seemed to be shifting her focus to perfecting next year’s event.